- WSL / Steve Sherman
- WSL / Steve Sherman
Slater's Injury Status Update
4:17
After closer inspection, the 11x World Champion is now looking at 4-to-6 months out of the water.

Kelly Slater delivered an update on his recent foot injury today, and unfortunately the news was bleak. Slater originally posted on his Instagram that he was looking at approximately six weeks recovery time, which eliminated any thoughts of surfing the Billabong Pro Tahiti at Teahupoo, one of his favorite events on the Championship Tour.

11X World Champion and four-time event winner Kelly Slater of the USA freesurfing Supertubes before Round Two got underway and moving to Boneyards where he broke two bones in his foot while freesurfing and has officially withdraw from the competition. The most painful part for Kelly is missing this... - WSL / Kelly Cestari

But upon further evaluation by his physician back in the States, Dr. Warren Kramer, the original diagnosis of surgery to repair two broken metatarsal bones in his third and fourth toes will require closer to 4-6 months to fully heal. He's had good company to commisserate with in the form of good buddy, Ross Williams, who had a similar injury while the two surfed together on the North Shore many years back. Slater had to carry Williams over the reef on his back to get his friend to shore that day. Williams related to Slater yesterday that it took nearly nine months for his foot to fully heal.

The 11x World Champ stated that it's the worst injury of his career, however he seems to be in relatively good spirits, taking the injury in stride, even joking that missing the perfect surf at J-Bay hurts worse than his injured foot.

Slater's Injury: How It Happened
0:46
Kelly Slater broke his foot on a seemingly harmless wave at Jeffreys Bay, sidelining him for up to six weeks.
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